Pressure To Increase Tuition Could Threaten Future of Catholic Schools

Catholic schools have been successful because of their small size,
their teacher policies, and their stress on values in education. But
growing financial pressures are endangering the schools despite their
apparent success, according to researchers who are completing a major
study for the National Catholic Educational Association (ncea).

Such problems could, in fact, lead to the largest wave of
Catholic-school closings since the early 1970's, the researchers
predict.

A principal investigator for the nationwide study said he and other
researchers based their "early impressions" on findings from the first
phase of the study, which included site visits and interviews with
officials from a "highly representative" sample of 26 Catholic schools.
The complete findings will be presented at the annual ncea meeting in
October.

Catholic schools make up 64 percent of the private-school sector,
which constituted 10.9 percent of the total elementary- and
secondary-school population last year.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of Catholic schools is their smaller
size, said Anthony Bryk, an associate professor of education at Harvard
University. The average Catholic school has an enrollment of 541
students, while the average public school has an enrollment of 752.

But because of internal pressures, the schools are entering a
perilous period in which the schools might have difficulty attracting
enough students to keep the schools operating, Mr. Bryk said.

"There are indications that the [wave of school closings of the late
1960's and mid-1970's] could happen again," and the remaining programs
could be weakened, Mr. Bryk said.

Enrollments Stabilizing

Enrollments at Catholic schools dropped by more than 2 million
students between 1965 and 1978, before stabilizing in recent years.
Last year, total enrollment was 3,026,000 students.

The failure of most Catholic schools to set aside sufficient money
for capital projects and pensions, combined with the increase in the
number of lay teachers, could force the financially pressed schools to
increase tuition beyond the reach of most families, he said.

"If [Catholic schools] have to rely on tuition to pay for school
expenses, the tuition rates are going to have to increase a lot faster
than inflation," Mr. Bryk said.

Because the average age of members of religious orders is
increasing, the orders are not able to supply Catholic schools with as
many teachers as they have in the past, thereby increasing the schools'
reliance on lay teachers.

Mr. Bryk said teachers from the religious orders usually contribute
from 25 percent to 60 percent of their salaries to the schools--a
practice that lay teachers do not follow--so the increase in the number
of lay teachers will lead to larger payrolls.

The nuns and brothers who continue to teach, he added, will not be
able to contribute as much of their salaries as they have in the past,
because the financial burdens of supporting older members of the order
will increase.

Control Over the Curriculum

The size of Catholic schools and school districts--which are small
by comparison with those of public schools--allows both principals and
teachers significantly more control over the curriculum, discipline,
and general operations than their public-school counterparts have, Mr.
Bryk said.

"In many situations, the [public-school] principal doesn't have any
say in selecting faculty members," Mr. Bryk said. "They're just told by
the central office of the district, 'Here's your staff."'

Both principals and teachers also have greater flexibility in
determining how courses will be taught, Mr. Bryk said.

"Because Catholic schools tightly define their academic mission,
their goals can be explicit and they are able to accomplish more within
their resource constraints," a preliminary report on the researchers'
work stated. "Though diverse in ethnicity and social class, the student
bodies in Catholic schools appear unified, cohesive, and
well-socialized."

Most teachers, including the increasing ranks of lay teachers, also
''consider their work as ministry," Mr. Bryk said.

One of the parochial schools' biggest future challenges, Mr. Bryk
said, will be to maintain their "Catholicity" with lay teachers who
have less exposure to teachers from the religious orders. (See
Education Week, June 16, 1982.)

Mr. Bryk said he was surprised to learn the crucial role that
interscholastic and intramural athletics play in the everyday life of
the Catholic school. "That was not on our list of themes," he said,
until the researchers started analyzing the interviews and school
budget figures. As much as 10 percent of a school's budget is spent on
the programs. The athletic programs, he said, serve as a place for all
of the people connected with the school--from principals to parents--to
see each other regularly.

Tracking is necessary in Catholic schools because of their
relatively open admissions policies and staffing problems, Mr. Bryk
said. But smaller student populations also help Catholic schools avoid
the problems normally associated with tracking, Mr. Bryk said.

Because the typical school is academically oriented and "everybody
knows everybody by name," he said, "there seems to be a little less
stereotyping." Students are not relegated to certain academic levels
for the course of their schooling, as many public-school students
appear to be, Mr. Bryk said.

Better Attitudes About Work

Partly because the parents of students pay tuition to send their
children to school, both teachers and students appear to have better
attitudes about their work. A pledge by parents that they will be
involved in their children's schooling is often a requirement for
admission, Mr. Bryk said.

Mr. Bryk also noted that an increasing number of Catholic-school
students come from families in the middle- and lower-socio-economic
levels--the subject of another ncea study. "These families are spending
an enormous portion of their disposable income," he said. "There's no
question that that improves the motivation."

The percentage of minority students in the parochial schools has
grown from 10.8 percent in 1970-71 to 20.4 percent last year, according
to the ncea

High Turnover Rate

The low salary scales offered Catholic-school teachers, he said,
result in a high turnover rate--which means that the Catholic schools
receive a constant influx of highly motivated young teachers. One-third
of the schools have an annual turnover rate of 20 percent, Mr. Bryk
said.

"This has not apparently hurt Catholic schools," Mr. Bryk said.
"There is the positive effect of a renewed sense of commitment that
comes with a new staff."

That a high turnover rate can have positive effects should be
considered in the debate over merit pay in public schools, Mr. Bryk
suggested. "Part of the argument [for] merit pay is based on the
assumption that we need to keep teachers for long periods. That might
not be what we want."

Peter Holland, a doctoral candidate in administration, planning, and
social policy at Harvard University, worked with Mr. Bryk on the
study.

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